Find your sea story in a Mystic Seaport Museum SeaClass this fall. Learn new skills in authentic historic spaces with master craftspeople and teachers as your guides. Learn to sail in an evening sailing class for adults. Explore 19th-century open hearth cooking, or make your own unique cards on an original 19th-century printing press. Try your hand at blacksmithing or woodcarving. Learn how to sharpen your workshop tools, or make original holiday gifts in our unique sail-making skills classes. A huge variety of on-campus evening and Saturday classes are available for every skill level. Satisfy your curiosity at Mystic Seaport Museum!
Mystic Seaport Museum SeaClass teachers include licensed sailing instructors and skilled historic interpreters who will guide you through making your own projects using 19th-century tools and techniques. Please note some classes require a prerequisite, and some are multiple sessions.
Bookmark this page to be the first to learn about new classes each season. New digital options coming soon!
If you have any questions about our classes and workshops, or would like to book a private class, please call our Reservations Department at 860-572-5331, or email reservations@mysticseaport.org.
COOPERING FOR BEGINNERS
SOLD OUT
Join our master cooper in this three-day class to learn the techniques, terminology, and processes necessary to fashion round containers made of wood. You will plan your design, understand the different types of woods used by coopers, and identify the direction of the grain to give you the best results. Next, you will work with traditional tools, such as draw knives, a croze, a cooper’s anvil, and a jointer to shape staves which are the basic pieces of every cask, barrel, and pail. The results of your hard work will be a bucket of the sort that was used on the 1841 whaleship Charles W. Morgan and in homes throughout the world for centuries.
BOOKMARKS
In Letterpress Paper Crafts: Bookmarks, make your own paper crafts on an authentic 19th-century letterpress. An experienced printer will guide you as you design and set your own bookmarks using 19th-century techniques and equipment. All tools and materials are provided.
VALENTINE’S DAY CARDS
In Letterpress Paper Crafts: Valentine’s Day Cards, make paper crafts on an authentic 19th-century letterpress. An experienced printer will guide you as you design and set your own Valentine’s Day cards using 19th-century techniques and equipment. All tools and materials are provided.
MODERN CELESTIAL NAVIGATION: SEXTANTS AND SUN SIGHTS
In this two-day workshop on modern, practical celestial navigation learn to use, calibrate, and adjust sextants. “Shoot the sun” to determine latitude and longitude. Correct sights for “dip,” refraction, and other factors. Determine the GHA and declination of the sun in modern tables as well as the standard Nautical Almanac. Easy and designed for beginners—if you can add and subtract, you can navigate by the sun! Created and taught by Frank Reed, one of the world’s leading experts in celestial navigation and an astronomy consultant on the team that found Shackleton’s Endurance in 2022.
CELESTIAL NAVIGATION IN THE AGE OF SAIL
Learn the tried and true methods of historical celestial navigation from the historical perspective of the Age of Sail directly based on the logbooks of the famous whaleship Charles W. Morgan. Learn to use, calibrate, and adjust sextants. “Shoot the sun” to determine latitude and longitude. Correct sights for “dip,” refraction, and other factors. Apply historical pencil and paper calculations, exactly as done in the 19th century. Created and taught by Frank Reed, one of the world’s leading experts in celestial navigation and an astronomy consultant on the team that found Shackleton’s Endurance in 2022.
INTRODUCTION TO COASTAL NAVIGATION
Designed for the novice, this three-day workshop will provide a hands-on approach to determining position using charts and features on the water and on shore, including an introduction to latitude and longitude; interpretation of nautical chart symbols; chart height and depth information; plotting courses and bearings; computing speed, time, and distance; and basic planning for a passage.
Charts will be provided and navigation instruments will be available for use both during class and for loan. If you have your own instruments, feel free to bring them. If you do not have any, we recommend that you not purchase any until after the first class.
LONGITUDE BY LUNARS
Learn to shoot and work the math of “lunars,” long considered the ultimate test of a celestial navigator. The moon in “lunars” served as a great natural clock in the heavens. Applying the greatest math and science from two centuries ago, lunars today remain challenging and intricate and serve as a window into the fascinating early history of navigation. Exploring logbooks from historic voyages, including HMS Bounty, we’ll learn lunars from the navigators themselves. Created and taught by Frank Reed, one of the world’s leading experts in celestial navigation and an astronomy consultant on the team that found Shackleton’s Endurance in 2022.
BOATING WITH DIRECTIONS BY MAGNETIC COMPASS
In this day-long workshop learn to understand the Earth’s magnetic field and its influence on the compass; determine magnetic variation and deviation; switch among true, magnetic, and “compass” directions; prepare and use a Deviation Card; and adjust a ship’s compass.
MODERN CELESTIAL NAVIGATION: SEXTANTS AND SUN SIGHTS
In this two-day workshop on modern, practical celestial navigation learn to use, calibrate, and adjust sextants. “Shoot the sun” to determine latitude and longitude. Correct sights for “dip,” refraction, and other factors. Determine the GHA and declination of the sun in modern tables as well as the standard Nautical Almanac. Easy and designed for beginners—if you can add and subtract, you can navigate by the sun! Created and taught by Frank Reed, one of the world’s leading experts in celestial navigation and an astronomy consultant on the team that found Shackleton’s Endurance in 2022.
BOATING WITH TIDES AND TIDAL CURRENTS
In this day-long workshop, develop an understanding of the celestial and geographic causes of tides; general tide and tidal current timing and local variations; determining the state of the tide and tidal current; and boating with tidal currents.
Open hearth cooking classes are perfect for foodies on their own, or in small groups.
EATING FROM THE SEA
CLOSED
If you love seafood, this is the class for you! Learn to cook locally and sustainably harvested fish and shellfish in the historic open-hearth kitchen of the Buckingham-Hall house. Explore how Mystic and New England were shaped by fisheries and the international trade they are connected to. Wrap up the evening by sitting down to a delicious dinner in the dining room of the Buckingham-Hall house!
WINTER DINNER
SOLD OUT
In 19th-century New England, winter was a time when people enjoyed the fruits of their harvest, and entertained friends and family. Gather your friends and family and together make seasonal dishes over our open hearth. Then sit down to a cozy meal in 1830s parlor of the Buckingham-Hall house!
VALENTINE’S DAY TEA
SOLD OUT
Celebrate Valentine’s Day at the Buckingham-Hall house! We will bake festive treats on the open hearth and then sit down together to enjoy a homemade afternoon snack in the parlor of this historic home!
FOOD AND IMMIGRANT EXPERIENCE: IRELAND
SOLD OUT
From familiar recipes to imported ingredients, food has always been intertwined with the immigrant experience. In honor of St. Patrick’s Day, come join us at the open hearth in the Buckingham-Hall house to learn more about the culinary traditions of Irish-American immigrants in the 1800s. You’ll get a heaping helping of history, traditional cooking techniques, and of course, delicious food!
FISH FRY
SOLD OUT
Explore the life of a fisherman through a cultural, historic, and culinary tour. Join our staff and learn about the New England cod fishery. Then, make your way to the Buckingham-Hall house where you will prepare codfish cakes over the open hearth. Our experienced staff will guide you through the cooking process. Enjoy your fishcakes hot out of the pan, or take a couple home.
GOLD LEAF GILDING
Get fancy in Wood Carving: Gold Leaf Gilding! Learn how to apply gold leaf gilding to a wood project.
INTRODUCTION TO WOOD CARVING
In Introduction to Wood Carving, learn maximum tool control and creative vision from a seasoned carver in the Museum’s Shipcarver’s Shop.
75 Greenmanville Ave
Mystic, CT 06355
860-572-0711
info@mysticseaport.org
Copyright © 2021 Mystic Seaport Museum
75 Greenmanville Ave
Mystic, CT 06355
860-572-0711
